Kitsune Guardian
by Goliith
Summary: A standard mission gone wrong poison's Naruto with a lethal poison, he only recourse is to turn to the Kyuubi for help, only more bad news entails, the only way to save himself is to be turned into a fox, a demonic fox. Now he lives to protect his Sakura.


Hey everyone, been quite a long time right? Sorry about that. The reason I haven't been updating much is because of all these Idea's that keep popping into my head for new fics, and they don't go away until I put the damn things down, so I've written A LOT of stories, this is one of them, I'm updating them all on here because my friends said they were good, so I figured you guys might want some meat to hold you over until I can work on **Harsh Existence **and **Path of the Hanyou.**

Right-o, hope you enjoy the fic, check out my profile, there's like 10 others lol

---------------------------------------------------------------

(Since this is one of those 'odd placed' fics, this takes place during all of the fillers, after Sasuke leaves the village, before Shippuden, relatively soon after Sasuke leaves)

It was supposed to be an easy mission, just head out to this small town and investigate a series of thefts, where did everything go so wrong? Why did everything he got involved in have to go bad, and turn to the worst possible situation? They had trusted him to go alone, he wasn't the most powerful genin in the village for nothing after all, and yet he wasn't prepared for what he faced, for what he just experienced and learned.

**Flashback, fifteen minutes earlier,**

Naruto was in the process of investigating the thefts in the small town when he came across exactly what he wasn't expecting too, the thief in question, in the middle of ransacking a house!

Naruto laughed "Bingo, stop right there! Or I'll be forced to hurt you!"

Said thief dropped the box he was looking through, and looked straight at Naruto with a dead set evil grin on his face "Oh, so I get to actually send someone to the next life instead of just stealing today? Ohh, and a Shinobi too, my my I am lucky"

He pulled out a short sword that was literally dripping with a strange purple/green colored liquid, Naruto could guess it was poison but wasn't worried, he was immune to every poison he had ever come across.

Naruto pulled out his own two Kunai and smirked "Yeah? Well it's too bad you came across me! Uzumaki Naruto will be the end of you!" Naruto charged at the strange man and lashed out with his Kunai towards him, who hadn't moved an inch.

You could imagine his surprise when the man suddenly lashed out at the last second and knocked his entire swing to the side, embedding the Kunai in the wall, Naruto, not expecting the sudden demonstration of skill was stunned for a second, but that was all it took for the man to ram his entire blade through Naruto's left shoulder, clear through his back.

Naruto gritted his teeth in pain and brought up his foot and kicked the man in the stomach, launching him backwards, he kept a grip on his sword, so it was ripped from him when the man flew backwards.

The man hit the wall of the house and righted himself and laughed at Naruto, "Well, I've had my fun. Enjoy you're last few days alive kid, that poison is one I myself have created through genetically modified plants, in approximately two days the poison will go into effect, and you will die. There is no antidote, and no way to stop it, I hope you enjoy the end of your life, they really shouldn't send a rookie to fight someone like me Hahahahaha"

Naruto was just about to tell the moron that he was Immune to poisons when the man disappeared in a plume of smoke, and Naruto mentally cursed, 'How did that guy know how to do that? He has to be a Shinobi, or ex-Shinobi'.

'Hey, Kyuubi how's it going on healing the wound? It's taking a bit longer than normal to start'

He and Kyuubi had grown closer once the demon stopped trying to convince him to kill everyone and everything, they had even become friends to an extent.

**'We have a serious problem Naruto, this poison, I don't know why, but I can't burn it away with my chakra, we have to get to Tsunade now to get something to stop it, if not, our time is short...'**

Naruto's eyes widened 'You're shittin' me right!? We have to get to Konoha, now!'

Naruto then completely abandoned his mission and booked it straight towards Konoha, he had to get to Tsunade before this poison could kill him, and Konoha wasn't close in the slightest, it was quite far away in fact.

**End Flashback, Time skip next day (Hah, never seen that done before)**

**Naruto arrived at Konoha a couple hours past noon the next day, he hadn't even stopped to sleep, there was no time to sleep!**

**He ran across the village, not even bothering to respond to the Chuunin guards greetings, he got to the Hokage's office and swung the doors open without bothering to knock, so it wasn't to much of a surprise when Tsunade stashed a bottle of Sake she'd been drinking, and yelled out for him to knock.**

"**Naruto! What the hell are you doing here!? You just left for your mission three days ago, you finished it already?"**

**Naruto, after catching his breath shook his head "No, I abandoned the mission, I came across the thief and fought him, he caught me off guard and stabbed me with some kind of poisoned blade. He said he made it himself from genetically modified plants, and that there was no cure. But, but the part that has me the most worried, is that Kyuubi can't get rid of it for some reason, so I really hope you can help, because he said I would die in two days from the poison, and that was last night"**

**Tsunade's eyes widened and she jumped up from her desk "Alright, lie down and take off your shirt and jacket, I'll check you out"**

**Naruto nodded and unzipped his orange jacket and tossed it to the side, he then pulled off his black T-shirt and tossed it off to the side as well, he then sat on the floor and laid down.**

**Tsunade walked over and kneeled down next to him and channeled chakra to her hands and they glowed green, she slowly started to move her hands across his body, checking him out, and as she did so her expression grew worse and worse. She looked through his whole body, and there wasn't a single spot in his circulatory system that wasn't completely saturated in this poison, the worst part was, she had never seen anything like this before, and worse yet, had no clue in the slightest how to fix it, she couldn't even try and drain the poison, it was in his entire bloodstream, even multiple blood transfusions wouldn't get it all. By the time she finished her exam, she had tears streaming from her eyes down he cheeks.**

**The green glow faded from her hands and she hung her head in defeat "N-Naruto...I...I have no idea what to do with this poison...I've never seen anything like it before"**

**Naruto's eyes widened and he leaned up suddenly "You're kidding me right!? There isn't anything we can do!?"**

**Tsunade shook her head sadly, not opting to speak "If we tried to give you blood transfusions, the poison would just spread to the new blood, we have no way to completely change your blood, you would die if you we tried"**

**Naruto hung his head in defeat "I...I'm dying...Fine I'm leaving the village then, I don't want to die in some hospital bed, and I definitely don't want any of my friends to have to suffer watching me slowly die to some poison, I'll leave the village and die somewhere where no one has to suffer for me"**

**Tsunade looked up at him sadly "But, what about all your friends, what do you want to be said to them? What about Sakura?"**

**Naruto sighed "Tell them the truth, I died from being poisoned on my mission"**

**Tsunade nodded sadly and wrapped her arms around Naruto in a surprising hug, she also burst into tears "N-Naruto, I'm sorry I couldn't help you"**

**Naruto hugged her back and nodded sadly "It's alright I know you tried your best, it seems as if I was never truly meant to be Hokage, maybe Neji was right all this time"**

**Naruto reached up and took off the Necklace She had given him when they met, he handed it to her "Here, give it to Konohamaru, he will definitely become Hokage one day"**

**Tsunade took the pendant and smiled sadly "I will, Naruto...Goodbye, I never in a million years would have thought I would live longer than you"**

**Naruto smiled sadly and put his shirt and Jacket back on, forgoing zipping up his Jacket, he walked to the door and turned around at the last second "Tell Sakura for me, I'm sorry that I couldn't get Sasuke back, but I will always be with her, to protect her, that I love her, and always have"**

**He then turned back around, and walked through the Hokage's office door for his last time, he saw Shizune sitting at the secretaries desk outside the office "Goodbye Shizune" he said, as unbidden tears fell from his eyes, he couldn't believe he was never going to see all of the people he loved again, all his friends, and everyone else.**

**Shizune looked at him funny, she had never seen Naruto cry, _ever_ "Is something wrong Naruto?" she asked**

**Naruto smiled sadly "No, nothings wrong, just saying goodbye"**

**Shizune smiled and gave him a little wave "Okay then, see you around"**

**Naruto continued walking down the hall, and spoke to himself, though Shizune heard it, and was suddenly worried "I wish I could" but before she could ask anything he opened the door to the stairs and started walking down the stairs, something else he _never_ did, he would always jump to the streets below from Tsunades balcony.**

**Shizune was now worried about Naruto, so she stood up from her desk and walked opened the door to Tsunades room and found Tsunade sitting at her desk, hunched over with her head on her arms, openly crying, before her lay her old pendant that she had given to Naruto.**

**Shizune walked around the desk and put a hand on Tsunades shoulder "What's going on Tsunade-sama? Why did Naruto look so sad, and why are you crying, and have his necklace?"**

**Tsunade pulled her close and buried her face in Shizunes shoulder and burst into renewed tears "H-He-He's die...dying" she sobbed out.**

**Shizunes eyes widened "Who is? Naruto!?"**

**Tsunade nodded with her face still buried in her shoulder, Shizune suddenly realized why Naruto was saying goodbye in such a sincere sad way, and she too broke down into tears, she didn't care why he was dying, Tsunade wasn't one to ever joke about something like death.**

**The two sat there for a long while, just crying over the soon to be late Naruto.**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto had made it through the village without bumping into anyone he knew, which was good he wouldn't be able to bring himself to leave if he came across Sakura.

He got to the village gates, and was once again harassed by the chuunins, they were friends though, so they were just miffed that he ignored them. "Hey, Naruto what the hell? Why did you ignore us earlier? And where the hell are you going now?" they asked.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head while smiling sadly "Sorry, I was in a big rush to talk to Tsunade. Where am I going now? I don't know, doesn't really matter at this point, I won't get to far, and from there, who knows? Only Kami knows where I'm going after that I suppose, maybe she'll let me into heaven, who knows"

The guards were worried Naruto sounded like someone who was about to kill themselves "You alright man? Maybe you should stop by the hospital, get checked out"

Naruto sighed "If only they could. Well, I'm going to be on my way guys, goodbye, have good lives, and don't go getting yourselves killed"

He then continued on his way out into the afternoon sun, walking along the dusty road that led from Konoha, the two guards called out to him again, but he didn't respond, he just kept walking, getting smaller and smaller in the distance. And before long, he had disappeared off in the distance.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto did nothing but walk for a long time, he even walked straight through the night, he wasn't going to bother sleeping, he would spend all the time before he died awake.

It was now just about noon the next day, the poison was due to take effect any time in the next few hours now, he was due to drop dead any time now...

He was up the point where he was looking over everything he did in his life, and came to the conclusion that he was disappointed in his life, he didn't get to bring Sasuke back, he never even told Sakura he loved her in person, let alone be able to be with her. He was now regretting the fact that he was dying more than ever. And suddenly Kyuubi, who had been silent since when he was poisoned spoke up to him.

**'I've tried and checked everything I can, and I can't remove the poison, There is only one way for us to live, but I'm pretty sure you'll say no anyway'**

Naruto's eyes widened, her he was, mere hours from death, and there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it wasn't the bad kind of light! 'What is it!? What do we have to do!?'

Kyuubi sighed **'Remember how Tsunade said the only way to remove it would be to change all of your blood? Well, if you...change, that will happen'**

Naruto winced at the exact way Kyuubi said "change" 'What kind of a change are we talking here?'

**'If I turn you into a fox, your entire bloodstream will change, removing the poison from your body completely, all at once, but like I said, you would be a fox, though you would be alive at least'**

Even though it wasn't the best option, between dying, and living as an animal, he would chose the latter 'Will I still be me though?'

**'Yes, you will still be completely 'you' as you say, but you will now have your mind, in the body of a fox'**

Naruto sighed 'Ok, fine...turn me into a fox I suppose'

**'Ok, but be warned, this will hurt you, a lot. You're whole body is being completely rebuilt from the ground up, before we do it get off of this road and get somewhere secluded'**

Naruto nodded and his walk turned to a sprint and he jumped into the forest and ran for a minute or two. He came to a small clearing and stopped 'Alright, lets do this Kyuubi, before I change my mind'

Kyuubi mentally nodded and instantly got to work, his chakra began to pour out and surround Naruto, and he dropped to his knees and gasped in pain, the chakra continued to engulf him and eventually the incredible pain became to much and he blacked out, thankfully.

Kyuubi went on to do his task, which was a large one, he had to completely reconstruct Naruto's body from the ground up, literally. And he had to get to his circulatory system before the poison activated and killed them both. To say he was under stress was an understatement, this was like being the bomb expert and trying to diffuse the bomb before it went off, but all you knew was that the bomb was due to go off any time now, could be thirty seconds, could be three hours.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kyuubi finally finished changing his body over a day later, he had gotten to his bloodstream in time, and had destroyed the poison before it could kill them, from there everything became truly complicated, altering his entire skeleton, his muscles, nerves, everything had to be changed, and it took a long time.

Naruto eventually woke up from his dreamless slumber, and he felt so weird. Everything felt completely wrong, and he remembered that Kyuubi was supposed to turn him into a fox, he looked down at his hands, and was surprised to find them actually replaced with large furry paws, with sharp claws.

He crossed his eyes slightly and looked at his snout, it looked like a foxes nose, and was a bright red color.

He tried talk, but all that came out was a bunch of growling and yipping. 'Kyuubi, you there?' he asked, glad that he could still think normally.

Kyuubi answered, sounding quite tired **'Yeah, I'm here, just a bit tired, it's a lot of work rebuilding a human into a fox'**

Naruto didn't even want to think about how hard that must have been 'Thanks again for saving me, so I'm your everyday fox now huh?'

Kyuubi snickered **'Well, not exactly. Why would I make you into a regular fox, if I could make you into something so much better? I turned you into a demon fox of course!'**

Naruto's new slitted blue eyes widened 'demonic? What does that entail?'

Kyuubi snickered again **'Don't worry, it just gives you some distinct advantages, like you can still control your chakra very well, you can change your size dramatically, you have nine tails, but you can have as many, or as few visible as you like, and you can still talk'**

Naruto's eyes widened further, and then he became confused 'Wait, I tried to say something before, it didn't work'

**'That's because demon foxes are still foxes, we can't speak Naturally like Humans can, we use our chakra to control our vocal cords beyond Natural measures, allowing us to speak. This is much more complicated than regular speaking, and naturally takes a long time to master, most foxes don't learn to speak until they are about ten years old, don't worry though, you already know how to control your chakra well, you shouldn't have trouble learning how to in no time. There is also one other thing I forgot to tell you thats different from regular foxes, your tails. They're much longer than a regular foxes, and you can control it to extreme measures.'**

Naruto nodded, absorbing the information as it was given, he looked behind him and sure enough his tails were all very long, all longer than his entire body was, they were all bright red like his snout, but had white tips. 'So, now what do we do?'

Kyuubi mentally shrugged **'Foxes are very in tune with nature. For now, we live, in time we will be showed what to do, or where to go'**

Naruto nodded and started to walk around, getting used to his new fox body, he found it to be a lot more comfortable than walking around on two legs, with four legs all the weight was distributed well, he felt better than he ever did on two legs, even if he was sore from his new body.

Once he was fully adjusted to everything new he walked from the clearing, and off into the brush, he had no goal in mind, he just felt like moving, they had time to kill after all, until they were 'showed what to do'

Days passed and he got used to his new body, his new life. He actually liked it, he didn't even mind eating raw meat. Though things were not to stay simple forever.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto's friends sensed something was wrong when he never showed up from his mission, he was only supposed to be gone for about five days, but today was the ninth day, they all went to Tsunades office as a group looking to find out what was taking him so long, if she knew.

They all arrived at her office and knocked, and she called for them to come in. They walked in as a group and Tsunade frowned, looks like the time had come.

Sakura walked to the front of the group and stood before Tsunade "Tsunade-sama, sorry to bother you but we were all wondering if there was any news about Naruto? He was supposed to come back from his mission over four days ago, so we were a little bit worried"

A few tears streamed down Tsunades cheeks "Naruto won't be returning...He's dead"

All of the kids gasped "You're kidding us!? Please say you're joking Tsunade-sama!" Sakura yelled.

Tsunade's face fell "I wish I was, he returned from his mission early about five days ago, he had come across his target and engaged him, he was caught off guard and was poisoned with some kind of poison I've never seen before, there was nothing I could do. He left the village afterwards, he said he didn't want all of you to watch him die from some poison"

All of them were completely stunned, the four girls all had tears streaming down their faces, and the guys all looked completely shaken, while none of them would admit it, Naruto was the strongest of all of them, for him to die all of a sudden was a world shaker.

Tsunade sighed "Naruto wanted me to tell you something Sakura, do you want everyone else to hear it too?"

Sakura nodded "Y-yeah, that's fine"

Tsunade took a deep breath "He said.... he's sorry that he couldn't get Sasuke back, but he will always be with you, to protect you, that he loves you, and always has"

Sakura's eyes widened and more tears streamed from her eyes "H-he loved me? I...I always thought it was just some stupid crush...oh god I was always such a horrible person to him, I don't think I ever even thanked him for saving my life all of those times...not once" she collapsed to her knees and held her head in her hands and started to openly cry.

Little did she know, she was realizing that she too had feelings for him, she just needed to be shown them.

Tsunade sighed "Alright everyone, go home, get some rest, and Sakura...get ready I'm sending you on a mission with Kakashi tomorrow"

Everyone slowly left the room, and Sakura eventually left after getting control of herself.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next day came and Naruto was walking through the woods, he was about to cross a road, one which led to Konoha when he was suddenly hit with a familiar scent, Strawberries and vanilla. 'It couldn't be!' He looked down the road and sure enough, there she was.

Sakura and Kakashi were walking down the rode away from Konoha, he couldn't believe he actually came across them.

**'It seems as if it's been decided for you as to what you should do now'**

Realization suddenly hit Naruto 'Yes! I'll keep my word! I'll stay with her, I'll always be by her side, to protect her' He quickly hid eight of his long tails and changed his size to be just larger than a wolf. He waited in the underbrush for them to pass and he emerged from his hiding spot and started to follow them at a distance.

Kakashi instantly noticed the very large fox that started to follow them at a distance, it was a very strange fox for sure, it had an extremely long tail and long ears. The disturbing part was it was stalking them, or more specifically, Sakura.

"Sakura, stay alert, we're being followed by a very large fox, and it seems to have targeted you. If it attacks, be careful"

Sakura nodded and glanced backwards and saw the large fox, and her eyes widened a bit 'Large? That thing is freaking huge!'

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Kakashi, he heard him perfectly 'Like I would _ever_ attack her'

As the three slowly walked down the road Naruto slowly closed the gap between them, _very slowly_ mind you. He knew that he looked quite powerful, and quite scary, and the tiniest of bad body language could instantly screw him.

He had gotten to the point where he was just about five feet from Sakura when she suddenly stopped and spun around with a Kunai in hand, and pointed at him. He froze in his tracks instantly, not even putting his front paw on the ground.

Sakura glared at the fox, who stood almost to her chest at the shoulders. She noticed the foxes eyes, the exact same shade as Naruto's, and she couldn't help but instantly recall Naruto's message for her _"He will always be with you, to protect you"_

She lowered her Kunai and Naruto stepped forward, very slowly closing the gap between them. Kakashi watched the whole scene carefully, ready to kill the fox in a second if needed.

Naruto eventually was standing right before Sakura, and she slowly reached out with her hand and placed it on the top of his head and rubbed it lightly "So soft" she whispered.

Naruto mentally grinned, Sakura was never this nice to him, he rubbed his head up into her hand, enjoying the touch, he turned his head up and she scratched him under his chin and he closed his eyes in delight at the feeling and couldn't help it as he started to purr deeply. Which earned a giggled from Sakura.

"Your eyes are so like his, it's almost as if he actually sent you to watch after me"

Naruto merely rubbed his face into her hand some more and she put away her Kunai and started to rub his head and body with both hands, making him purr louder, but it was doomed to not last long as Kakashi cleared his throat "Right, well. We have to keep going Sakura, come on"

Sakura sighed jogged to catch up with Kakashi, who started to walk away. And Naruto bounded off after Sakura and caught up to her and walked along side her, surprising both her and Kakashi, and Sakura giggled "Seems like he likes me"

Kakashi chuckled "Yeah, I just hope he doesn't like you for dinner" Sakura suddenly paled and turned to Naruto.

"You don't want to eat me right?" she asked.

Naruto didn't exactly want to let them know he could understand them, and merely cocked his head to the side, causing his ear to flop to the side cutely.

Sakura giggled at his cuteness "Naw, you wouldn't eat me" and she ruffled his fur, fixing his ear.

Naruto was practically melting on the inside, within five minutes of being near Sakura as a fox, he had gotten more friendly physical contact then he had in the years he had known her as a human.

The three then continued walking, all day when the sun began to go down Kakashi announced that they would be making camp for the night and they stopped and set up a camp, simple really, two tents and a small camp fire.

Once the camp was set up Naruto quickly disappeared into the forest, which made Sakura actually quite sad, she had come to think Naruto was actually looking over her in his afterlife.

Naruto returned about ten minutes later with a dead Rabbit in his mouth. He walked over to Kakashi with the Rabbit and put the Rabbit on the ground before him. Kakashi eyed the rabbit for a minute, and then eyed Naruto "Umm, Thanks" He then quickly set up the rabbit to cook on the fire, Naruto had gone and caught dinner for them.

After a while the rabbit finished cooking and Kakashi cut it into pieces and Gave half of it to Sakura, and took the other half for himself. Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly at Kakashi, he could have at least given him a piece after catching the food for him, but it was no big deal, he would catch his own rabbit that night. He laid down before the fire next to where Sakura was sitting.

To his surprise, after a couple of minutes of lying there Sakura nudged him slightly and he turned and looked to her, and she was holding out a piece of the rabbit "Want a piece?" she asked.

Naruto opened his mouth and tilted his head a bit, and Sakura dropped the piece into his mouth, he snapped his jaws shut on the piece and savored the taste of his first cooked meal in a while, sure it wasn't a big piece, but it helped.

Sakura giggled "It's almost like he understands me Kakashi"

Kakashi chuckled "I think everything understands 'food' to some extent Sakura"

Sakura shrugged "It feels like it's more than that though, well anyway I think I'm going to go to sleep"

Kakashi nodded "Alright, I'll keep watch"

Sakura stood from her spot before the fire and headed off into her tent Naruto merely stretched out before the fire, enjoying the warmth. He definitely wasn't expecting Sakura to poke her head out of her tent and call to him "Hey, you wanna sleep in here? You don't have to sleep outside if you want"

Kakashi once again chuckled "I'd imagine he would want to sleep out here, he's an animal after all" The shocked look in his eye was priceless when Naruto all to happily got up from his spot, shook off the dust from the ground and walked over, and into Sakura's tent, after all, when you've loved this girl forever, you _do not _turn down an open invitation to sleep in her tent, animal or not.

Sakura snuggled into her sleeping bag, and Naruto laid down beside her, facing towards the wall of the tent. He wasn't expecting her to wrap her arms around him once he was lying down, and to hug him like a teddy bear, and he most definitely wasn't complaining. Her touch induced a low purr from him, and they both drifted off to sleep.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next morning came quickly and Naruto woke up before Sakura, and was surprised to find her half way out of her sleeping bag, and draped over him with her arms wrapped around him, using him as a big furry pillow.

He resigned himself to waiting for her to wake up, he wrapped his long tail around her upper body though, and laid his head back down.

About twenty minutes Sakura stirred and opened her eyes, to look into a sea of red, she pushed herself up and realized she had been lying across her new fox companion, she then noticed that he long fluffy tail was wrapped around her like a scarf and she giggled. She pushed herself all the way off of him and untangled his tail from around her, and he stood up and stretched in a very feline manner.

She giggle again as he stretched "Morning" she said, while petting his head and ruffling his ears.

Naruto headed outside of the tent, followed out a minute later by Sakura after she rolled up her sleeping bag.

Kakashi was already outside, with his tent already packed away. Sakura quickly followed suit and packed down her own tent and put it away.

Once everything was done the group headed out on the road once again, skipping breakfast apparently.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto stayed at his place beside Sakura and the three walked along the road the whole day, they were a few miles outside of a village when Naruto suddenly sensed multiple people encroaching on the three of them and stopped walking and grabbed Sakura's dress with his mouth, stopping her too.

He growled deeply towards the woods while standing between Sakura and the woods. And a minute later five men exited the woods, with various weapons drawn, Naruto and Kakashi glared at them, and the apparent head man stepped forward.

"Give us the scroll you're supposed to be delivering and we'll let you live, don't do it and we'll do worse then just kill you and the little girl"

Naruto crouched down and barred his teeth at the men and growled, and Kakashi narrowed his eye at the men "Hmm, no. I don't think we will"

"So be it" the leader said. Suddenly three Kunai flew out of the woods from behind them all, heading right for Sakura's back, Kakashi was to far to stop them, and Sakura didn't even know they were coming. Naruto moved in a blur and circled around her and took the three Kunai in the side with three separate 'thuds'.

Naruto growled and dashed off towards the location of the thrower of the Kunai, a couple seconds later a blood chiling scream echoed out from the woods, and was suddenly silenced. Naruto appeared from the woods a moment later dragging the body of a dead man, with his throat savagely ripped out, and claw marks all over his chest.

Naruto whipped his head and flung the body of the dead man across the road, where he landed before the other men. Naruto himself than appeared back in front of Sakura, with the three Kunai still embedded into his left side.

He stood there and watched the men, to see what they were doing, he could smell that some of them were definitely scared now, after all a giant fox just tore out the throat of a Shinobi without trouble.

The men steadied themselves and readied their weapons, and Naruto shook his head at their stupidity. He dashed from his spot beside Sakura and leapt through the air towards the leader, who raised his sword to kill Naruto easily. But Naruto wasn't himself for Nothing, he swatted the sword out of the way with his paw, surprising the man and he tackled him to the ground with his full, very heavy weight. He quickly swooped down and latched his jaws over the mans throat, who screamed, and Naruto ripped out his throat, much like the last man.

The leaders now terrified subordinates lashed out with their weapons at Naruto as quickly as they could, one man stabbed his sword into Naruto side, and clear through him out the other side with a small splat of blood. Naruto growled and turned quickly around, breaking the mans grip on the blade, and he too lost his life in a similar way to the first two men.

Another guy stuck Naruto in the side with a pike twice, he was tackled to the ground and had his eyes scratched out before his head was stomped on with a powerful hind leg. The other two men went to attack him as well, but found their necks had been snapped by Kakashi at the last second.

With all of the men dead Naruto walked over to Sakura, glad to see she hadn't been hurt, hell she was to shocked that be protected her to even act. He limped slightly with every step, that sword sticking through his side wasn't fun, neither was the three Kunai or the two stab wounds.

Sakura gasped as she finally noticed the horrible wounds he had, the two stab wounds were matted in blood and were dripping to the ground, the sword wound was also matted with blood and dripping, and the Kunai wounds were matted with blood as well, though not dripping.

Naruto was glad his tail was so flexible and controllable, he used it to pull each Kunai free by the handle, he didn't want to try pulling the sword out though, he could do damage if he didn't pull it out straight.

He stood next to Sakura with the handle of the sword right before her hand, and he whimpered, trying to indicate to pull the damn thing free. Fortunately she got the message and carefully grabbed the handle and pulled the sword straight out, with a small flow of blood, which further soaked his fur.

Naruto shook his head to clear his mind of the pain induced haze, the wounds would close quickly, he wasn't worried, but Sakura didn't know that.

"Kakashi-sensei, will he be alright? He took an awful lot of hits"

Kakashi shrugged "I'm no vet, but he just seems to be happy that you're alright, but still. For a wild animal to be able to take out four armed, apparently trained men, it's an incredible feat, considering he started the fight with three Kunai wounds, it's even more amazing"

Sakura nodded "I still can't believe he took those Kunai for me, he saved my life, he certainly seems to be a reliable big guy"

Kakashi nodded "Indeed, though it seems he's going to need to get cleaned up soon, he's soaked in blood now"

Naruto took note of what Kakashi and sniffed the air, and found what he was looking for, there was a river not far from them, less than a quarter mile to the south east. He wrapped his tail around Sakura's wrist and started to walk off into the woods, inevitably pulling her after him.

She had no real choice but to follow him, but she trusted him, he sacrificed himself to save her after all. Kakashi in turn followed them both, he still couldn't be trusted, it was a wild animal after all.

Naruto led them to the river, it only took a minute or two to get there. Once they got there Naruto let go of Sakura's wrist and yipped at her, then turned and bounded towards the water and jumped in with a giant splash.

He paddled around in the water as all of the blood washed off and flowed downstream. Once he was thoroughly clean he paddled over to shore, walked out, and shook off sending water flying everywhere. He ended up with all of his fur spiked out from shaking off, and Sakura giggled once again at his 'blow dried' look.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at the fox's apparent understanding of what he said "Well, I didn't mean right now, but that works I guess...Lets get going Sakura, we need to deliver this scroll so we can get back to Konoha"

She nodded and started to follow Kakashi once again, and Naruto once again appeared right beside her.

They all continued on their way towards the small town and arrived there not to long afterwards, they walked through the town, though people seemed to clear the way for the little girl with the giant fox by her side.

They made it to the center of the town and went up to a large building, where they were told the fox couldn't enter, Sakura told him to behave himself, and he merely sat outside, staring down the guards and enjoying the nervous looks on their faces.

Inside the building Kakashi and Sakura had delivered their scroll to the towns leader, they didn't know what was in the scroll, and they didn't care, it wasn't their mission. The leader thanked them and sent them on their way.

They arrived back outside, to find Naruto staring down the guards, Sakura laughed and called out to him "Oh leave them alone, lets head on home to Konoha" Naruto yipped and ran over to her side and the group of three started on their long way back to Konoha.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

They had been walking back towards Konoha for about two hours when Sakura was petting Naruto and not looking where she was going and stepped in a hole in the road and broke her ankle.

After Kakashi finished setting her ankle he sighed "Well, you won't be able to walk on it for a few weeks, seems we're calling it early tonight"

Naruto laid stood next to Sakura and yipped, and nudged her. It was harder than you would think to tell them you wanted to carry her when you couldn't speak.

Sakura merely pushed him away from her when he nudged her "Sorry, we have to stop" she said.

Naruto growled in frustration, he didn't want to do this, but he was going to if it would help. He extended one claw and scratched in the dust a very crude picture of a person riding on the back of an animal of some kind, with a long tail and ears.

Sakura looked down at what he was doing with the ground and her eyes widened "Kakashi, what if I ride him?" she asked, while gesturing to Naruto.

Kakashi looked at her with a look that said 'that was the stupidest thing I've ever heard' "What makes you think he would want to carry you all the way to Konoha? I'll just carry you there tomorrow"

Sakura sighed "Can't we at least try? If he lets me ride him, then we can get their a lot sooner, plus I have a feeling he will let me"

Kakashi sighed "Fine, but if he throws you to the ground, I told you so" Kakashi came up behind Sakura and lifted her up by the arm pits and lowered her onto Naruto's back.

Boy, he was glad he chose to be as big as he had, Sakura may be light, but even light for a person is heavy. He got used to her weight and took a few steps to see how his balance was.

Seeing as he didn't throw her to the ground Kakashi sighed, he hated being wrong. "Fine, we'll continue on then, or for as far as he lets us. You might want to hold on to him" Sakura nodded and leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and she whispered into his ear "Alright, lets get going"

Naruto started walking off towards Konoha, and figured since it was just him and Kakashi now, they could go faster. He slowly sped up faster and faster until Kakashi was at a full sprint, and Sakura was giggling like a five year old on his back.

They made great time traveling like they did, by the time night fell they were very close to Konoha, Naruto didn't mind going on right through the night, he had the eyes of a fox now, darkness was nothing. But Kakashi wanted to stop, so they stopped and made camp for the second night. Kakashi helped Sakura into her sleeping bag, and Naruto once again curled up next to her, and she once again wrapped her arms around him and hugged him like a teddy bear.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next morning came quickly once again, and Naruto was actually upset to not find Sakura lying on top of him again, he enjoyed being close to her, hell this was the closest he had ever been to her.

After a little while Sakura woke up and started petting him, he wasn't complaining. Kakashi eventually poked his head in the tent and told Sakura they had to get going, she nodded and was about to try and stand, apparently she forgot about her ankle.

Naruto put a paw on her leg, stopping her from trying to stand, and motioned to her foot with his nose. Her eyes widened slightly when she realized she was about to stand on her broken ankle, then smiled and rubbed Naruto's head "Thanks, that would have hurt a lot"

Naruto scooted up next to her side and wrapped his tail around her wrist and pulled her over on top of his back, she realized what he was doing and threw her leg over his back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Naruto stood up and walked slowly out of the tent.

Kakashi noticed their exit and packed away Sakura's tent for her, soon after they were off towards Konoha again, and they were once again running at high speed thanks to Naruto. After all, when the giant fox that's carrying your last student sprints off at high speed, you don't have much choice but to follow it.

Thanks to Naruto's antics they arrived at Konoha at just before noon.

Naruto slowed to a walk as they approached the gates of Konoha, and Kakashi caught up and walked beside he and Sakura and the odd group slowly came upon the gate, and the two guards.

They walked up to the two guards and the guards eyes widened as they noticed that Sakura was actually _riding_ a giant fox. "Umm, how'd your mission go?" one of the chuunins asked.

Kakashi shrugged "We came across this big guy on our way out of the village, he's pretty much attached to Sakura, not that it's a bad thing, we were ambushed by six men, he saved Sakura's life and killed four of them, plus he's been carrying her since she broke her ankle, so all in all, not so bad. We'll be reporting to the Hokage now, see ya round"

The guards looked at the fox, and their eyes widened slightly "Wow, I've never seen a blue eyed fox before"

Sakura laughed "Yeah, he sure is one of a kind, he understands everything I say perfectly too, anyway lets go"

Naruto started walking off further into the village, heading for the Hokage tower, with Sakura on his back and Kakashi following right behind them.

Just like in the small town they visited Naruto received many frightful stares from the people of Konoha, Sakura was looked at like she was crazy and the streets parted for them.

Naruto walked down the streets that he knew all to well, instinctively taking the shortest path to the Hokage tower, it only took them about ten minutes to get to the tower at a slow pace. Shizune's expression was priceless as they walked passed her desk. They certainly were a strange sight to be sure. A bright red fox with white tipped ears and tail that was larger then a wolf, and a small girl no older than thirteen with a bright red dress and pink hair riding on it's back.

They walked up to Tsunade's door and Kakashi knocked, after a moment Tsunade called for them to come in, and Kakashi opened the door and walked in, followed by Naruto and Sakura.

Just like everyone else who saw them, her eyes widened significantly, but she also noticed that her right leg was wrapped tightly in bandages from mid calf down, keeping her ankle from moving.

"Alright, report in, and don't skip anything" she said in a 'you lie, you die' way.

Kakashi sighed "Alright, we left the village as planned, we were walking for quite a while when all of a sudden this here giant fox came out of the underbrush and started following us down the road, he slowly closed the gap and came up to Sakura, he showed no aggression towards her and just started walking with us. The next day we were just outside of the target town when six guys attacked us for the scroll, they ambushed us and attacked Sakura."

"The fox took the three Kunai that were thrown at her in the side, he went out and killed the one who threw the Kunai, then went on to kill three more of the guys, he took a sword through his side, and was stabbed twice with a spear, though the wounds healed by themselves it seems."

"From there we finished the mission, delivering the scroll to the leader of the small town, then continued on our way home, Sakura wasn't looking where she was looking and stepped in a hole in the road and broke her ankle, then she asked to see if the fox would carry her, so I put her on his back and he didn't seem to mind, so we continued on to Konoha. So mission success, but Sakura needs her ankle checked out"

Tsunade nodded "That sure is a strange way for a mission to go, but nonetheless I'll check out Sakura's ankle, though if it's already been broken for two days it will probably have to heal naturally since it's started healing on it's own by now, Sakura if you'd take a seat on the couch please"

Naruto walked over to the couch and leaned down and Sakura got off his back on her good foot and sat down on the couch.

Tsunade walked over and kneeled before Sakura and gently lifted her leg and set it on her knee, she channeled her chakra to her hands and they glowed green and she slowly scanned Sakura's ankle, nodding every few moments.

She finished checking everything and the glow faded, and she set Sakura's foot back on the ground. "Hmmph, it's as I thought, your ankle has already begun to heal naturally, so unless you want me to re-break the healing bones, you're going to have to wait for it to heal naturally, fortunately Kakashi knew what he was doing when he set your ankle, so it should heal just fine. Though you can't walk on it for at least two to three weeks"

Sakura paled "Two to three weeks? What the heck am I supposed to do for that long?"

Tsunade grinned evilly "Well, if you're that bored, you could come by and help out with sorting paperwork for a while"

Sakura's eyes widened, everyone knew how horrible a person Tsunade was with paperwork "No! I mean, I'm sure I'll find something to do"

Tsunade smiled "Good, now what about your furry friend here? If your gonna keep him, your going to have to name him, and register him, and I don't think he's gonna let you not keep him"

Sakura nodded "Hmm, names...I think I'll call him Kyuusaisha, because he saved my life, he's my savior, he reminds me of Naruto, and his eyes...I just can't help but think it's like Naruto really is looking after me"

Naruto chuckled to himself, which came out as a series of short yips, which still sounded distinctly like laughter 'If only you knew Sakura, if only'

**'Well, you'll be able to tell her eventually, once you learn to speak it won't be a problem, right?'**

Naruto sighed 'I don't know, maybe I shouldn't even tell her, I mean we're closer than ever now that she doesn't know who I am, maybe it should stay this way'

Kyuubi chuckled **'Well, you'll have plenty of time to think about it, seeing as she's going to own you now'**

Back in the world Tsunade nodded "Kyuusaisha huh? Alright, so do you want him registered as a....well a nin-dog? Seeing as there are no nin-foxes, or do you want him registered as a regular pet?"

Sakura smirked "Definitely a nin-dog, he's too good to be anything less"

Tsunade smiled warmly "Right-" she turned to Naruto, who was lying on the floor "Well then, welcome to Konoha, Haruno Kyuusaisha" she put her hand on his head and ruffled his ears, and he couldn't help but think, 'What the hell is with everyone and my ears?'

Tsunade turned back once again to Sakura "You guys can leave, rest up and let your ankle heal, take things slow until I say so, okay Sakura?"

Sakura nodded "Alright, let's go Kyuusaisha" Naruto got up from his spot on the ground and went over to Sakura's seat, she got up on her good leg and sat on his back with a good grip on his shoulders. And Naruto took a few steps to make sure she was alright.

Tsunade chuckled "Well, he certainly seems to make a good wheelchair"

Naruto started to walk towards the door, and purposefully smacked Tsunade lightly in the face with his tail, Shizune laughed at her and Tsunade grumbled about disrespectful foxes.

Naruto and Sakura emerged from the tower and Naruto stood in the road, more or less waiting for Sakura to mention where she wanted to go. Her stomach answered for her by grumbling loudly. Naruto remembered that they hadn't eaten since the first night he met up with them, stupid Kakashi and his rushing.

Naruto started walking to a place he knew all to well, Sakura held on tight "Hey, where are you going?" she asked.

Naruto merely kept on walking, and about ten minutes later he stopped right out front of Ichiraku's Ramen, his all time favorite restaurant.

Sakura's eyes widened when she noticed exactly where she had been taken "No way, you took me here of all places? You're definitely to similar to Naruto, well lets go inside I guess"

Naruto walked forward and through the curtains, and Sakura brushed them aside, Naruto walked up to the bar and stood before it, Sakura struggled for a second but got herself on one of the stools at the bar. Naruto being as big as he was stood at her side and laid his head on the top of the bar.

Tsuchi, the elderly owner of the restaurant came around the corner from the back of the restaurant, business had slowed quite a bit with Naruto's death, he was no longer around to drag Iruka for some Ramen, or to con any of his friends to get some Ramen. He saw Sakura and smiled "Well hello Sakura-san, it's been a while since you've stopped by"

He then saw the very large fox, who's head was resting on the bar lazily and his eyes widened "Whoa! What's with the giant fox?!"

Sakura smirked and rubbed Narutos head "Don't worry about him, he's my new...well nin-fox I suppose. He started following me on my last mission, so I took him in now I suppose...god my parents won't be happy haha"

Tsuchi's eyes widened again, then he noticed the foxes brilliant blue eyes "He certainly is a strange fox, I've never seen a blue eyed animal before. Anyway, what can I get for you today?"

Sakura picked up the menu before her and flipped through it quickly and found what she wanted and nodded "I'll have the Beef and vegetable Ramen please"

Naruto really wanted some ramen, so he used his tail and brought it forward, he looked at the menu himself and used his tail to point to the Pork Ramen, and Sakura giggled "I think he wants a Pork Ramen too please"

Tsuchi's eyes went wide once again "D-did he just read the menu?"

Sakura laughed "I think so, he's incredibly smart, I think he even understands people talking perfectly"

Tsuchi smirked "Really now? Does he have a name?"

She nodded "Yeah, his names Kyuusaisha"

Tsuchi looked deep in though for a brief moment "Savior, huh? That's a unique name, how'd you come up with it?"

"Well, because he is my savior. He saved my life on the mission, we were ambushed and he took three Kunai in the side for me, if not for him, I probably would have died"

Tsuchi's eyes widened slightly once more "Really? He really is a savior then, well I'll be back shortly, I have Ramen to make after all" He then walked into the back of the restaurant, presumably to cook their orders.

Sakura and Naruto merely sat at the bar with Sakura scratching Naruto's head mindlessly while trying to think of what to do for the next two to three weeks.

Before they knew it Tsuchi came back with two bowls, and placed the bowls down before the corresponding person. Naruto lifted his head up off the counter and took a deep breath, inhaling the beautiful aroma that was his favorite food.

He stuck his tongue out slowly and lowered his head down to the Ramen and dipped his tongue in the broth, how else would he eat it? He instantly whipped his head back and yelped in pain 'Son of a bitch! That is HOT!'

He lowered his head back down to the soup and growled lightly at the innocent liquid 'Damn soup, this is going to take forever to cool off' He started to blow on the soup, and will it to get colder. How shocked was he when his breath turned to a fine mist and the soup froze into a solid block in his bowl.

His eyes widened in shock 'Whoa! What the hell happened?'

Kyuubi smirked in his mind **'Remember when I said foxes were very in tune with nature? Well...demonic foxes are a lot more in tune, so much so that they often come to be able to control a certain aspect of nature, it would seem as if you've developed the ability to control temperatures. You can literally breath fire, or ice, so long as you will it'**

Naruto's eyes once again widened 'You're shitting me? This being a fox thing just gets better and better!' he looked at his soup and blew on it once again, this time willing it to be hot, not on fire...but hot. And sure enough he could see the air distort from the heat and the soup melted back into liquid before his eyes.

He dipped his tongue in it once again and smirked 'perfect' he buried his entire snout in the soup and scarfed it down in seconds, licking his entire jaw when he was done..

Sakura watched the entire proceeding's with a hanging jaw. She watched as this, admittedly strange fox, blew on his soup, and it turned to solid ice! Then he blew on it again, and it turned back to liquid!

She filed it away to inspect later, and picked up her chopsticks and ate her own Ramen slowly, enjoying the great taste.

About ten minutes later and Sakura finished her own Ramen. She took out the money for the food and set it down on the bar "Thanks for the Ramen Tsuchi-san, it was great. Kyuusaisha sure seemed to enjoy it"

Tsuchi smiled "No problem Sakura-san, come back soon"

Sakura nodded "We will, come on Kyuusaisha, lets go check out your new home" Naruto circled around and stood so she could push off from her stool onto his back. Once she was in place he walked out of the restaurant.

He assumed that by his 'new home' she meant her house, so he just started heading towards her house, he'd been there multiple times before, though never been inside.

Sakura was shocked that her new companion was already heading towards her house, she thought it was just a coincidence until he took them all the way to her house, and then stopped out front.

She came to the conclusion that he must have been able to follow her scent, and rubbed the top of his head "Alright, lets go inside I guess, I wish you were smaller though, it's going to be hard getting my parents to understand a fox that's bigger than a wolf is going to be living with us now.."

Naruto got ready for the most probable shout fight that was going to take place, and walked up to the door. Sakura leaned down and opened the door with her keys and swung the door open.

Naruto bent crouched a bit and walked through the door, to avoid smacking Sakura's head into the doorjam.

Naruto walked into the house slowly and looked around, her house was definitely not tiny. They were standing in a large foyer with hardwood floors, there was a coat rack and a little cubby for shoes, Naruto crouched down and Sakura put her sandals in one of the holes, he stood back up and headed further into the house, though very slowly. It would be really bad to have a giant fox 'bump' into you in the hallway of your house.


End file.
